I have every intention of inflicting my thoughts on retirement on you all over the coming weeks as I start to get to grips with the fact that I may not be commuting and/or working any more. You have Been Warned. To that end I have opened a new category Retired Random so I can gather these in one place and look at them in a few months time to see how I am getting on. It is early days yet, but am feeling sooo relaxed and laid back at the moment and wondering how long that will last. Then I tell myself, don't worry how long it is going to last, just enjoy.
So I am and, as you know, I was up in Leicestershire at the weekend and my sister phoned to tell me that out of the £600+ raised for the Soroptimist's charity (more of this organisation in another post), £80 of that came from my bookstall, so was chuffed about that and eager to man then ext one. My first customer was a kindred spirit, she headed straight for the books, went through them swifly and eagle eyed and handed batches to me as she spotted them. I kept a running total and chatted with her about certain books on the table and recommended others and she ended up spending nearly £20 alone, so that was a good start to the day.
Drive back on Monday was pretty straightforward and relaxed except for one hairy moment when a lorry on the M1 decided to pull out and did not see me lurking in my little Micra so I had to brake, blast my horn and swerve (fortunately there was nothing coming up in the fast lane on my right), and then shot off cursing and swearing and shaking like a leaf (on looking in my mirror I managed to catch the eye of the lorry driver who was mouthing Sorry Sorry to me so I forgave him)...
Hot bath, early bed and up the next day for an exhausting day of going to the hairdresser to have the old roots done. I had a few errands in town so got in early, bought a cappacino and then sat and read the paper (told you I was having an exhausting day) and then sallied forth. On the way to the hairdresser I popped into the Oxfam bookshop. I do not go in there very often as I think they price their books far too high, but if I am in the vicinity then I cannot pass the door without having a quick gander. And this time, it was worth it. I have been collecting EF Benson as you will all know by now, and Hogarth Press published several of these in the 1980's, now all out of print, and lo and behold on the top shelf was a copy of an omnibus edition of the Dodo books, in the same edition at £2.99. A snip and down it came and into my bag.
Then just before the hairdresser popped into the Castle Bookshop and came out with a copy of Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey which I have not read for years and am really looking forward to seeing if I find it as intriguing now as I did when I first read it at age 14.
After emerging from the ministrations of Kevin with golden locks and grey hairs hidden, I headed for Waterstones. I had spotted the new Donna Leon book in Smiths but resisted the price there and thought I would just have to order it from Amazon, but then remembered my Waterstone's card. Found the book, £4 off and added to the fact that I had £6 on my Loyalty card, meant I bought it for just under £6 so cheaper than the paperback. I arrived home feeling very pleased with my thrifty morning.
Now the excitement is mounting - what did I do today? well, answered a plea for help from the son of a friend who was having problems with a computer I had loaned him for a few weeks, nipped into car, drove over and found the D drive had vanished. Into car again and nipped off to those nice kind Tech Guys in PC World with whom I spent so much time a year ago when the Great Comptuer Crisis of 2008 took place. As always, friendly and helpful, sorted it out and all OK.
Then home and have spent several hours mucking about on the computer on ITunes as my 'old' nano pod is being sold to my sister so she and hubby will have music to take with them when they visit their time share, they are going to get an iPod dock, and sorting out a playlist for them. Took me ages to fathom out how to check playlists and copy them over only, discovered I had to select Manual as opposed to Automatic synching and get a grip and then I was off. So, now all done and I am just writing this after I have had my supper and am watching the footie where England are currently leading Ukraine in the World Cup qualifiying matches 1-0. Let us hope we continue to play well. With the England football team, nothing is certain. (Oh goodie Beckham has just come on - thunderous applause and everyone stood up as he ran on the pitch. I don't care what people say about him, I am a fan). Later: Ukraine have equalised... but even later ... we have won. Hooray!
Best part of the day was a phone call this morning from a very dear friend who rang to see how I was coping with Retirement and great just to sit down with a cup of tea and talk to him for nearly an hour.
So, there you go folks. Retired Random Bulletin 1. Bet you can hardly wait for the next one...
